Abbott defends comments on indigenous Australians

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday defended his description of remote indigenous communities as a "lifestyle choice" in the face of a backlash from aboriginal leaders.

Abbott said he was being "realistic" about the practicalities of living in isolated areas and "stating a principle."

"If you or I chose to live in very remote place, to what extent is the taxpayer obliged to subsidize our services? And I think this is a very real question," he told Macquarie Radio.

"It is incredibly difficult for the kids to go to school if there's only half a dozen of them and getting teachers there is all but impossible.

"Similarly it's very difficult for adults to get a proper job if there's no employment within hundreds of miles, and this is where we have to be a little bit realistic."

In November, the Western Australian government announced plans to close almost half of the state's 274 remote communities, with a reluctant premier Colin Barnett saying "high rates of suicide, poor education, poor health, no jobs" had made them "a huge economic, social and health issue."

It has been reported that 115 of Western Australia's remote communities have an average of just 4.4 people per community.

On Tuesday, Abbott spoke in support of the closure of the smaller communities.

"What we can't do is endlessly subsidize lifestyle choices if those lifestyle choices are not conducive to the kind of full participation in Australian society that everyone should have," he said.

The prime minister's own chief advisor on indigenous affairs, Warren Mundine, told Fairfax Media on Wednesday the comments were wrong.

"That is a complete misconception of what it is and he's wrong in that regard," Mundine said.

"It is not about a lifestyle, it is not like retiring and moving for a sea change, it is about thousands of years connection, their religious beliefs and the essence of who they are."

Chair of Western Australia's Kimberley community of Djarindjin, Brian Lee, said it was "an obligation to your ancestors to look after your country and you have to be on your country to look after it."

Greens senator Rachel Siewart called Abbott's comments " unbelievably racist" while the opposition indigenous affairs spokesman, Shayne Neumann, said all Australians deserved an apology for the "deeply disturbing and highly offensive" comments. Endi